IDG, Erasmic invests $ 3 million in Perfint

Bangalore, Dec 28: IDG Ventures India, a $150 Million early-stage technology venture capital fund and Erasmic Venture Fund have invested $3 million and $3.5 million (Rs 13.79 crore) respectively in Perfint, a Chennai/Mysore based healthcare devices start up.

With $3 million, IDG Ventures, led the funding and the rest came from Erasmic, an early stage $10 million fund from Bangalore. In a press statement released here on Thrusday, Mr.Sudhir Sethi, Chairman&Managing Director, IDG Ventures India said that, the Perfint will focus on developing Niche Healthcare Products and Solutions, that address Clinical Productivity needs globally with a special focus on Emerging Markets like India, China , amongst others and subsequently developed markets like USA, Europe etc.

Their first product called PIGA, is a Tool Positioner for Image Guided Minimally Invasive (IG-MI) procedures. Some of the clinical applications that PIGA supports would be, Fine needle aspiration (FNA), Biopsy and RF Ablation (RFA) of small tumors in the lung and the abdomen. PIGA, to be launched in India in 2008, would be amongst the earliest positioning devices available globally, for such soft tissue procedures.

Image guided interventions can be broadly categorized as IG (Image Guided) diagnosis (like biopsy), IG therapy (like radiation) and IG Surgery. The global market for minimally invasive image-guided interventions is currently over $3 billion, though, for example, currently only less than 15% of all surgeries are performed using IG-MI approach.

"Perfint works closely with healthcare professionals to co-create niche devices that are Intelligent, Connected and Affordable while meeting global standards in safety and reliability. Our product development professionals are passionate about creating world-class products. We will deploy the funds raised from IDG to accelerate our New Product programs .We will start with emerging markets and look at entering the US markets in 2009. Our investors' global network will be of great help as we build world-class clinical and technology advisory panels" said Mr. S. Nandakumar, co-founder and CEO of Perfint.

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